Saturday, June 19, 2010

"Read My Lips - Healthcare Is NOT A Tax!"

I suppose none of us should be surprised by this, not really. There have been so few things about which Obama HAS told the truth (like making our energy costs skyrocket was actually true), that many of us assume he is lying from the get-go. I should say, those of us in the Reality-based Community assume he is lying unless proven otherwise. You know that old saying, "Fool me once..."

Many of us were not fooled with the lies and machinations the White House used to shove through Obamacare, like the cost (ha - turned out that was a big lie, and it is going to cost WAY more than Obama said), or that it is, indeed, a tax (h/t to Noogan for this heads-up). Well, at least it is according to his Justice Department anyway, Justice Department Rejects States’ Legal Challenge To Health Overhaul, Contradicts President In The Process. That lie didn't take too long to see the light of day:
The U.S. Justice Department officially responded to a legal challenge against the federal health-care overhaul Wednesday and called on a federal judge to dismiss the case.

Twenty attorneys general, led by Republican Bill McCollum of Florida, filed suit against the federal government immediately after President Obama’s health-care overhaul became law in March. The attorneys generals are questioning the constitutionality of the law, claiming that Congress does not have the power to require that all Americans purchase health insurance.

The federal health-care law requires that all legal U.S. residents be insured or else pay a penalty — beginning in 2014 — that fines individuals $695 annually or up to 2.5% of their income.

In its defense of the law, the Justice Department invoked the Commerce Clause and claimed penalties for Americans without health-care coverage were consistent with the federal government’s powers to regulate interstate commerce and impose taxes.

The Justice Department filing describes the penalty as a tax, stating that the law “imposes a tax on the choice of a method to finance the future costs of one’s health care.”

There ya have it. Right there. By the way, isn't it interesting how Obama continues to make the Justice Department do his dirty work? He did this with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," too, among other things (e.g., DOMA). Typical. McCollum wasn't amused:
McCollum responded to the Justice Department filings Thursday, claiming that the government’s response contradicted the comments that President Obama made during the health-care debate earlier this year.

“The Justice Department’s defenses clash directly with comments made by President Obama during the debate on the health care reform bill, including the President’s insistence on national television that the purchase mandate was absolutely not a tax. Yet in its motion to dismiss, the Obama administration defends the individual mandate under Congress’ ‘taxing and spending’ power,” said McCollum in a press statement.

WATCH OBAMA SAY HEALTH-CARE REFORM MANDATE NOT A TAX



Evidently Stephanopoulos was NOT reaching when defining what a "tax increase" was. But Obama was sure as hell lying though his teeth when he claimed the healthcare bill was NOT a tax, making his condescension toward Stephanopoulos even more inapproproate (and why is it that people always refer to that as a "professorial" trait with Obama? First of all, it's not like he was eve ra full professor, taught that long, or was event hat good at it. Condescension does NOT equal professorial. Just saying. But I digress...). Back to the issue at hand:
“Our lawsuit challenges the individual mandate that violates the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, the federal government is threatening our state sovereignty with this unprecedented expansion of federal powers and commandeering of state resources,” McCollum continued. “This is not acceptable, and we will pursue this litigation as far as necessary to obtain relief for our citizens and our states.”

Hearings on the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit will begin Sept. 14.

Another day, another lie from Team Obama. This is a whopper, though. Obama lost credibility with me LONG ago, but at some point, others are going to have to admit that Obama is nothing but a big, fat liar. Maybe this will push them over that edge.

I am sure you have other examples. Let's hear them!

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